Ace the Hedgehog
by Rien-Pierce
Summary: After Sonic and company return from space, they enjoy their well deserved reprieve. However, Eggman never stays quite for long. In the shadows of his Fortress in Derelict City, He creates an Android, ALPHA E X. to destroy Sonic the Hedgehog.
1. Chapter 1: Amnesia

Disclaimer

Disclaimer

Disclaimer!

I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog.

Okay, so it's been longer than I expected, but here it is, Ace the Hedgehog. So, this takes place after most of the games (Assuming they all follow a time line.) It comes directly however after the events of Sonic X and Sonic and the Secret Rings. (Assuming that Sonic X came after all of those games other than the Secret Rings) So Sonic Colors (Colours) and the Black Knight haven't transpired yet. … (Assumingly)

Now enjoy my crappy writing.

Sonic the Hedgehog has returned from a stressful adventure in the tales of Arabian Nights. … Or so he says. On his return from saving the tales, he is assaulted by Amy Rose his obsessed "girlfriend;" the two having set up a date on the day he had been "summoned" to said mythical land.

Miles Prower, otherwise known as Tails the Fox, has put all of his free time nursing Cosmo's Plant. Other than this, he has upgraded the weapons and build of the Blue Tornado, his plane. However lately he has been going to the Chao Garden underneath Timberland to raise a Chao that had recently hatched near his home.

Knuckles the Echidna has been puzzled lately. The Master Emerald had been acting strange right before Sonic left. It keeps glowing with a foreboding light. Perhaps Sonic is doing something that is causing the Master Emerald to go haywire. Knuckles thought. Sonic had disappeared for three days now, Knuckles wondered if he would return soon.

Amy Rose has been helping the mayor with his duties. Apparently, whilst the gang was gone, with the Master Emerald, a sickness struck the surrounding area. Derelict officials claimed it was because of the lack of its spiritual stones, the Chaos and Master Emeralds. Although she knew it could have been connected, Amy also knew that the Meta-Rex were stealing Planet Eggs and that this may have had an inverse effect. For all any of them knew, this epidemic could have been spread due to the lack of Planet Eggs.

Serene, a beautiful hedgehog with white fur and green eyes, the pride and joy her parents that were killed by the epidemic that swept through the surrounding area. She almost died from the ailment as well, however she survived, no one is quite sure why. Lately she stays in her house, mourning the loss of her parents.

Ross, the mayor of Timberland, has also suffered a loss from the epidemic. His wife and daughter were struck ill and his wife, Marylyn, died from the sickness. However, his daughter Cecilia survived miraculously, much like Serene.

Rouge the Bat is in search of Shadow the Hedgehog. The two have become something like friends. On their last adventure, Shadow died protecting the universe. Now she is searching for him, so that Eggman couldn't brainwash the newest clone that had surfaced.

Shadow the Hedgehog is an android that was created by Doctor Eggman's grandfather, Gerald Robotnic. However the original Shadow died years ago. The past Shadow the Hedgehogs have been copies, more androids, made by Dr. Eggman. Rouge was now searching for him. Another Android had died in there last adventure, meaning that somewhere nearby, another Shadow would reawaken. Of course he would have the memories of the previous Shadow, up until the last day or so.

Zade is a black hedgehog from Derelict City. For Zade, getting caught up in the wrong crowds was sort of a talent for him. He had gone to prison twice now. Now off parole, he's moved to Timberland, in hopes of a clean slate. He is now the apprentice of a nearby smith.

As the scientist, Dr. Eggman, plans his latest greatest scheme against Timberland and Sonic the Hedgehog, in a faraway place, a tribe of hedgehogs mysteriously vanish. No one knows the cause of the fall of their civilization, for no one had knowledge of their existence.

The people's cries were mere whispers in the deep forest …

Ace the Hedgehog

It was early in the morning when he woke up. A green hedgehog with long spikes lay barely conscious in a bed of flowers, smashed flat as if he had fallen onto them from atop a tree. However, he did not remember anything about what had happened. He wore a necklace, a drawstring with three jewels hanging from it, and shoes that were much bigger than his actual feet, as well as swelled up gloves. A tattoo of a diamond, the shape, sat on his forehead, right between his eyes.

The hedgehog lay on his back looking up at the sky. He then sat up, scratched the back of his head, and yawned. "Where…" He paused realizing he was speaking aloud. _Where am I? _He thought.

_Green hills, approximately .8 miles north-northwest from Timberland._ He thought as if his mind had answered him. He did not pay the voice any mind as he got up and stretched. Simultaneously many joints of his body popped his knuckles, knees and lower back cracked loudly in protest.

"Man I must be really banged up, how long have I been out here?" He half expected his head to give him an answer, but it did not. He looked around and saw a path and walked toward it, however he started walking faster until he was jogging, then until he was running faster than he thought possible. He skidded to a stop and looked down. In little more than five seconds the clearing he was in had disappeared from view, he was running faster than he thought he was. The soft-dewed ground sunk where his feet hit the ground with powerful momentum.

_I guess I should be a little freaked about that but … It feels like I've done this before._ He shook his head, trying to rattle out some memories, but none came. "Hmmm…" _I'm less than a mile away from this Timberland, but the trees are to thick to go straight there, and this trail seems to wind around a lot. _He thought, "Looks like I'm walking." He sped off, his figure now a green blur.

The Blue Blur lounged around some trees on the outskirts of Timberland Village feeling bored as usual. He had finally lost his obsessed girlfriend Amy Rose after running for a full 3 hours around the village. Sonic had taken a mythical journey the stories of the Arabian Nights, or so says Sonic. He had disappeared for a week then mysteriously returned, however no one believed his stories, and everyone just assumed that he was having an adventure somewhere far off, maybe Derelict City, the next town over.

Amy Rose devised her own conclusions, saying that the hedgehog had fled town for a while to blow off the date the two had set up. Well, Amy set it up; Sonic had no choice in the matter. However, now Sonic was taking it easy, enjoying Amy's reprieve, however short it may be.

As Sonic lay there, daydreaming, Tails approached him from the sky. "Ya' know Amy's not gonna stop right?"

Sonic grunted, "I know, I know! I just got back from a very irritating adventure and everyone's septic!"

"I think the word you're looking for is skeptic." Tails sighed, "Anyway, where were you Sonic? We were all worried about you…"

Sonic sat up, scowling at the fox, "I told you already, I'm not lying!"

"Okay! But you've gotta admit that's not a very believable story Sonic."

Sonic crossed his arms, annoyed by the realization. "Yeah, yeah. I guess I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't been there." Tails raised an eyebrow. "BUT, I was there and I believe it." There was a pause. "So uh, how's everyone doing? I didn't mean to disappear right as our vacation time started."

"Yeah, it's been pretty boring seen you left Sonic. Oh! Sonic by the way, Knuckles is looking for you. I forgot. He wanted to see you about four days ago."

Sonic's ears shot up, his eyes lit up as well, "What are we waiting for! Race you to the Tornado!" With that, he was gone in a blur.

"It's not much of a race." Tails moaned in protest and flew after him.

"WOO!" The green hedgehog yelped as he spun around trees and flew through the air with neck braking speed. He was jumping off the trunks of trees and hopping across the braches that hung over the worn path. He crashed and rolled a couple of times, but he was completely fine afterward. _This is so much fun; I must have done this before._ His thoughts raced through his head, completely forgetting that he had no idea who he was or what he was doing in the middle of the forest.

Still, he was having fun. In no time at all he was out of the forest and in the Green Hills, it was a hop and a skip to the village now. He slowed down, but he was still running faster than anyone else could. When he reached the city gates, he rushed in without even noticing he was still running. He skidded to a stop as people crowded around him. He could tell by the look on their faces that they were expecting someone else.

"Outta the way! Commin through!" Someone yelled from the crowd, pushing and shoving to get to the middle of the circle. He even saw a giant pink hammer raise from the crowd as the voice got closer. He swallowed. "SONI-! Hey. You're not Sonic." A pink hedgehog holding a giant pink hammer was standing before him. Her dress and hammer match her fur and complimented her eyes. Everyone's eyes stared daggers into his body.

"Eh, no. I guess not…" The hedgehog said, his voice was somewhat high, but not much higher than a matured boy voice sounds like.

"Then who are you? Not one of Eggman's are you?" Asked a stern dog woman, she looked like she was part of an agency of maids, black skirt and white apron with the works.

"I … uh…" The hedgehog did not know what to say. He knew that saying he had amnesia would be somewhat cheesy, but what else was he suppose to do. He did not know what any of them were talking about, and if the girl in front of him with the hammer decided to get swingy, he was out of there in a second.

"Mary, please. This kid doesn't look like he'd be in league with Eggman." A deep voice called out. Everyone looked over to see the mayor, a bear named Ross Ligier. A giant club was strapped to his back. He was standing on the far end of the crowd; they parted to let him through.

He scanned the people that surrounded him. There were bunnies; a few of the little ones had wooden swords. There was a Black hedgehog that had two swords strapped to his left hip. Somehow he knew they could interlock and make a double ended sword. A couple of Dog boys and a few hedgehog kids were all carrying wooden boards and slingshots. _Why does everyone seem to be packing some sort of weapon?_ He thought to himself. Maybe the brain answering him was just a tired hallucination, even if it was right.

"How about a name?" The bear said.

_Name, right._ He thought hard for about two seconds. Then his mind answered him.

_Ace the Hedgehog. Codename: Alpha 1_

"Ace … Ace the Hedgehog." He finally said.

Ross nodded, "Where are you from?"

_Two miles southwest of Derelict City. _His mind answered immediately this time._  
Creepy… _He thought

"Outside of Derelict City. Why are you—" He was interrupted.

"And what are you doing in Timberland; it's quite a ways from Derelict City."

… … … … _Well? _He thought

_To gather Information. _His brain said.

_On what?_

_To gather Information on Sonic the Hedgehog._

… … … …

"To uh, see Sonic … the hedgehog."

Everyone seemed to be relieved. "You must have come to race Sonic. We thought you were him cuz you ran in here so fast. Sonic usually does that." A hedgehog child answered, he then ran off with the rest of the crowd. The only ones left were the pink hedgehog and the bear.

The hedgehog then got a scary grin on her face. "Hey, Ace is it? My name's Amy Rose!" She took his hand and shook it ferociously. "If you're here to see Sonic, I'm afraid you're gonna have to help me find him first."

"Ehm." It was the only sound he could make before she starting dragging him across town. As Ace looked back, he saw the bear pinching the bridge of his nose, and then giving a faint smile.

"So, uh Amy right?" He asked when they slowed down.

"Yeah?"

"What exactly am I doing?"

"Okay." They stopped and she let go of his arm. "Here's the plan. When we see Sonic, he's probably gonna run away, or he might even be running just casually, it what he does best. Anyway, when we see him, you're gonna chase him down for me. Then bring him back here."

Ace stayed silent for a moment. "Amy, it sounds like you're planning to kidnap someone."

"You can call it kidnapping, but when we're dealing with Sonic, you have to take extreme measures."

Ace looked up to the sky. "What have I gotten myself into?"

She punched him in the arm. "Oh come on, it's not all that bad, you came here to race him right? So if you can catch him and bring him back to me, then you can take his title as fastest thing alive or whatever. Sound like a deal?"

Ace closed his eyes and scratched his head. _Fastest thing alive sounds like a pretty good title._ He gave it some more thought. _Well to an extent anyway._ He sighed aloud. _I guess I've gone this far…_ "Alright."

"Yay! Now c'mon, we have to find him now." Just then, Sonic jogged in front of them, stopped and walked up to Ace.

"You look new in town, what's up! I'm Sonic the Hedge-" Sonic was interrupted when Ace grabbed his arm held it up.

"That wasn't so hard. You made it sound impossible." Ace said.

Amy's face glowed red. "You were just lucky is all."

Sonic's face then lit up in horror, "You're some kind of bounty hunter or something! C'mon what she paying ya' I'll pay double!"

Ace grinned. "Sorry Sonic, I'm doing this for free."

"You're a monster! A horrible, horrible monster!"

Ace out his free hand on his heart, "Ow. That hurt."

Amy scoffed. "You're kind of a smart ass."

"I'm outta here!" Sonic shouted and burst into full speed with Ace stilling holding his arm. He was now being dragged through the town, yet again. In a second however, Ace was running at Sonic's pace and was following him.

"Hey, you're pretty fast!" Sonic yelled over his shoulder. Ace grinned, he was about to get his race. "Hey. I never got your name!"

"It's Ace! Ace the Hedgehog!" With that, Ace shot in front of Sonic in a green blur. Sonic soon followed.

Tails flew lazily over to his workshop, expecting Sonic to be there, at his door, tapping his foot impatiently, instead, he found Knuckles with his arms crossed. He was surprised to see that he was not there. _Maybe Amy caught up to him. _He thought, snickering at the possibilities.

"Hey!" Knuckles yelled. "I heard Sonic's back. Is that true?"

Tails did not answer until he landed. "Yea it's true. We were coming over here but he hasn't showed up."

Knuckles let his head drop and his eyes close. Then Tails saw that large black sacks were under his eyes. "Hey, you okay?"

Knuckles took a minute to answer. "Hmm? Oh, yea. Just haven't got much sleep.

"Why's that. Does it have anything to do with what you wanted to see Sonic about?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business." Knuckles spat. "I'm going to check on something up in Angel Island. So don't come up there today." With that, he walked around the house and jumped into the air. From there he glided out of sight.

"Well… that was certainly odd." Tails opened the door and slipped inside to tend to his chores.

The hedgehogs were heading north toward the Green Hills. Here rouge robots from a nearby fort control by the nefarious Doctor Eggman roamed about, surveying the surrounding area. "How about we bust some of those robots up?"

"It would make things more interesting." Ace replied, right beside him.

"Alright! Whoever destroys the most wins!"

Then the two split. Ace focused more on the robots that moved about the ground, while Sonic took out the endless amount of airborne enemies. The two spent an hour raking up points. They had gotten through to the triple digits, still almost tied, when an airship sped toward them. It was smaller than Eggman's previous Airship, the Egg Carrier, but it was fashioned with a similar design. With a big fat face with a large comical mustache stamped on the underside.

A loud voice came from it, "What are you doing to my robots!"

Ace stood there beside Sonic, whom did not seem faltered. "Hey it Eggy! Where've you been old pal?"

"You infuriating hedgehog! And who's your new friend. I bet he's just as obnoxious." The voice was coming from an intercom located on the bottom of the ship. "How many have you and that other pest destroyed!" As if he had just now surveyed the surrounding trash heap.

Sonic counted on his fingers as Ace scowled at the ship. "Uh, I got a hundred and seventeen. How may did you get Ace?"

Ace was dumfounded. "I … I got one-hundred nine. Can't believe I lost. I was sure I had more than you."

"Eh, butter luck next time I guess." Sonic smiled.

A shocked gasp then boomed forth from the intercom "YOU DESTROYED OVER TWO HUNDRED OF MY ROBOTS!"

"Oh… He seems cranky. What should we do, give him a bottle?" Ace suggested scratching the back of his head.

"Heh. Eggman can be a big baby sometimes." Sonic's grin stretched.

"My name is ROBOTNIC you pompous hedgehog. And since you seem so fixated on destroying my creations, perhaps you need to be taught a lesson!"

"It's been an hour! Where are those Hedgehogs!" Amy yelled as she stalked out of town to search the horizon. "They could be two cities over by…" She stopped after she spotted the airship. "Eggman." She took a deep breath. Surely, someone else had spotted it, but she could not rely on that feeling alone. "I have to tell Ross." She turned and ran.

Knuckles glided over the trees of the forest, heading to the mountain that lay a couple of miles west into the forest. Once and a while he had to land on the top of a tree so he could jump and glide again. He did this until he was at the base. Above, the floating isle Angel Island floated, awaiting its protector's return.

He started climbing the mountain faster than any normal echidna could; then again, his family line has been doing this for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years before him. This mountain was as ancestral to him almost as important as the Master Emerald that he protected. This gem held a mysterious connection to the planet, and no one knew its true past. However, Knuckles didn't much care. He knew how important it was and never left it alone for long.

After about fifteen minutes of tedious climbing he had finally reached the peak, where he could easily jump and glide to the islands surface. However, something caught his sight. Out of the corner of his right eye, he saw an explosion. Seconds later, the sound caught his ears. Knuckles then glided to the altar on Angel Island.

"Master Emerald, is this what you were trying to warn me about?"

For a few seconds nothing happened. Then a voice spoke in Knuckles head.

_No…_ Then inside the gem an image formed. It was of an airship, one of Eggman's fleet.

"But if this is not the threat-" The Master Emerald intervened.

"Go…"

Knuckles nodded and ran t the edge of the island and jumped. He dove for a bit to gain speed, and then he started to glide. "This shouldn't take long. I should get back to the Emerald soon."

When Eggman finished talking, the hull of the airship opened up and out of it came a large rotating missile launcher. "GOOD-BYE!" Screeched Eggman as all the missiles in one round fired. They all shot at the two hedgehogs and Sonic dashed to the side to avoid them, but Ace stayed where he was standing. Perhaps in awe.

_Heat seeking missiles. Running will have no effect, however this magnitude firepower, it's almost designed to make the target retreat. The only logical tactic is to retreat 1.8 seconds before impact. The missiles will not be able to follow the target and collide with the ground. Retreat 1.5 seconds before impact and the target will be caught in the explosion. Flee 2.0 seconds before impact and the missiles will be able to continue following their target._

The information popped into Ace's head, rather than being read to him. He knew this as soon as the missiles fired and had ample time to calculate the time before the missiles came to close. He waited while Sonic wondered what he was doing. Then at precisely 1.7 seconds before the missiles collided, he ran over and grabbed Sonic by the arm, Sonic would have been hit by the shockwave at that distance. Ace turned toward the airship, after sliding to a stop, and saw the missiles collide with the ground.

"That all you got? None of your missiles will hit us like that." Ace called.

An angry growl came from the intercom as the missiles retracted. "You forget your place." Ace wondered what it was he was talking about. "I will have me revenge on the both of you!" With that the airship turned, but couldn't get away before Knuckles crashed and left a huge dent in the side of the ship.

"What!" The intercom fell before the rest of the sentence could be finished. Knuckles had blown a hole into the ship. He was now standing on the inside of the ship. Despite this, the airship flew away.

"Yeah! Knuckles will take care of Eggman." Sonic wooed.

"Knuckles? Eggman?" Ace's face was puzzled, almost as if he somehow knew them.

_Super maniacal evil genius with a desire to rule the world. His brain answered. Robotnic's plan will succeed with Metal Sonic and Alpha E X by his side._

_Wh… What?_ Ace remembered that his head had told him that his real name was Alpha. _So I'm some part of Robotnic's master plan? One of Eggman's… Robotnic's…? He did say you forget your place. Maybe he doesn't know how right he is…_

Ace was quiet for a long time. "Hey, you okay?" Sonic said.

Ace closed his eyes. "It's nothing… No it is something." Ace opened his eyes and saw Sonic had a strange confused look on his face. "It's complicated I guess." He decided to change the subject. "Shouldn't we go help … Knuckles?"

"Nah, Knuckles can handle Eggman just fine without us. But hey, if you need to get something off your chest…" Ace looked up. "Well we just took out hundreds of Eggman's robots together, and I always heard that strong bonds are made on the battlefield." He scoffed.

"So we're friends?" Ace wondered what the word meant to him.

"Yeah. Whaddya say Ace?" Sonic held out his hand. "I mean it's not everyday I meet a hedgehog whose as fast as I am."

Ace smiled. "Sure. That sounds …" Ace could not find a word to convey what he felt. Emotions are a little tricky to figure out when you do not have any memories of them before. He grabbed his hand and shook it.

Sonic looked to the right. "Ah man, I forgot about Tails."

"Tails?" Ace asked.

I was suppose to meet my friend Tails at his workshop. But, I eh, guess I got a little side tracked." He grinned awkwardly. "Hey if you're not doing anything, I could introduce you."

_Miles "Tails" Prower, _His brain stated_. A two tailed fox and Sonic's best friend. Tails, as he is called, is the local mechanic. His workshop is located west._

"Hey, you still with us?" Sonic said.

"Yea, sure. Tails… Lead the way." Ace replied.

Sonic's face lit up again, "Alright follow me. We'll be there in thirty seconds…" Then he was off in a blur. Ace soon followed.

Chapter one:  
Amnesia

This is pretty much a teaser, just so you guys know or care, for the sake of having more characters; this shall be a prelude to Kingdom Hearts: Chaotic Crossover. Also, I'm working on Legend of Zelda Demon Chronicles, but that needs to have a lot of time put into it. So thanks for reading my fetid writing, and hope you guys had a better Christmas holiday than mine.

January 2, 2011

Rien_Pierce


	2. Chapter 2: Infiltration

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog, yadda yadda yadda.

Begin Story:

Ace the Hedgehog

In little under thirty seconds, the two hedgehogs arrived at Tails's Workshop. It was a two-story house with what looked like a giant wooden box jutting out of the left side. Sonic walked up to the door and knocked with lightning speed. The noise that reverberated throughout the house sounded very annoying, even from the outside.

"SONIC!" Yelled a voice, Sonic stopped his knocking and opened the door. An orange fox that Ace recognized as Tails was standing in the doorway with his hands over his ears. "Why do you have to do that whenever you don't just walk in?"

"It seems like the quickest way to get your attention bud." Tails gave him an annoyed glare and glanced at Ace. "Oh, this is Ace. He a pretty cool hedgehog gave me a run for my money."

"So that's where you've been." Tails walked outside, "Hi. My name's Miles Prower, Nice to meet you." Tails extended a hand.

Ace shook it. "Ace, likewise."

"I was just about to go work on my plane, want to see it?"

_A plane eh? _Ace thought.

"What about Knuckles?" Sonic stepped inside and turned around waiting for the two to step inside.

"He said not to come today."

"He's crazy, earlier he smashed into Robotnic's newest airship." Ace said

"Yea, but that's just how Knuckles is." Tails beckoned the two to follow him.

_The Blue Tornado, A bi-plane with the ability to change in a jet. Tails's pride and joy. _Ace's head chimed in.

Ace walked with Sonic and Tails into the house. The living room was connected to the door. It had grey carpet that matched the blue walls. There was a couch and a Radio in this cluttered room. A TV sat in the floor. Somehow, Ace knew that it was hard to get a signal from the broadcasting station in Derelict all the way out here to watch television.

The living room led to a flight of stairs and a hallway, right beside each other. They went down the Hallway. There were three doors on the right side and a single large metal door on the left. They went to the end of the hallway and opened the metal door, revealing a large workshop.

The workshop was easily bigger that the house. Workbenches sat everywhere, upon them were a various skew of tools. Hammers to wire cutters to jackhammers sat around the giant room. And on the far side sat the Blue Tornado.

"Wow." Ace said.

"The Blue Tornado, it's a great piece of machinery." Tails went on, walking forward with Sonic, leaving Ace behind.

Ace snapped out of it and followed them. Unfortunately, he strayed to close to a workbench and a high-powered electro-magnet shot of the table and hit him in the elbow. "Ah..."

_Magnetic field activated. _His head stated and the magnet fell to the floor. Tails and Sonic look back surprised.

"Sorry." Ace picked up the magnet and set it back on the table. They turned and continued talking, but Ace was bewildered by what just happened. _I'm not supposed to be magnetic… What's wrong with me? Should I tell them? … … No. I don't know how they would react. It might be better to get to know them more before I tell them anything._

"We made the Green Hills a bit safer, right Ace?" Sonic said but Ace did not answer. He was looking down fiddling with his necklace.

_I would think that this would somehow jog some memories, but I guess—_

"Hey Ace!" Sonic shouted Ace out of his trance. "You sure zone out a lot."

Ace laughed awkwardly, "I guess I've got a lot on my mind lately."

"Like what?" Sonic pressed.

"Uh… it's kind of personal…"

"C'mon Sonic," Tails intervened. "Don't haggle him, if he doesn't want to tell us he doesn't have to."

Ace sighed in relief. Sonic was clearly annoyed. Sonic seemed to love to pry. Tails went on. "Anyway, we're going to go check out Eggman's fortress to see if Knuckles is there." Tails looked at recently used table and walked over to it. He fiddled with something and then walked over to Ace. "And if we get into some kind of trouble, it would be nice to know that we had a back up plan." Tails held up a wristwatch.

"Umm." Ace took it and put it on his wrist. Then tails looked at his watch. Ace had not noticed he was wearing it. Or maybe he had just put it on. He pressed a couple of buttons and a light flashed on both devices simultaneously. Two loud beeps sounded and Tails's face popped up on his watch. "Whoa, communicators?"

"Yep, Just in case. And if we do ask you to help us with something, the communicators have a map. If we do have trouble, my communicator will send out a distress signal. And on your map, it'll be a blinking dot." Tails waited a moment. "You get all that."

"Yea."

"Can we count on you?" Tails asked.

"Yea of course."

"That is, if we need any help. We'll probably fly in and out of Eggman's "fortress"" Sonic air quoted.

"Yea, if you need it." Ace responded. "Does this thing actually tell time?"

"Well … uh no." Tails answered.

"Ah well… Anyway, so I'll head back into town for a bit, okay?"

"Okay." With that, Ace left and walked out the door just in time to see the sequence in all of its glory.

First, the ground on the outside of the double doors on the side of the workshop slid across to reveal a runway. The airplane motor echoed through his house and made a terrible noise. The trees lining the runway were lowered down; they were attached to a hydraulic system. The runway then elevated as the double doors slid open, revealing the plane. Then it took off. It sped down the runway and flew into the sky. Ace noticed that Sonic was riding on the tail of the airplane. _That's really dangerous. _He thought. _I won't be doing that anytime soon._ Ace scoffed. _I guess Sonic lives on the edge. I wonder how I was before. Maybe I was more like him._

_Anzalia Colony. Twenty-three miles southwest of current location._ His brain was talking to him again.

"I wonder if it's a medical condition…"

_This Anzalia Colony… it sounds familiar. Maybe I'll go check it out. I've got nothing better to do._

_Anzalia Colony data uploading. … … …_

_Um what?_

_The Anzalians were a race of people who believed in a religion that even I cannot understand. _Ace realized that this voice was the voice that came from the airship … Dr. Robotnic. _Their civilization is quite primitive, diamond tattoos were placed on every newborn boy, rhombuses on every girl. I studied these people through mechanical surveillance that were placed by my robots while the villagers slept. However, I did not learn much before my camera malfunctioned. When I personally went to the site, the civilization had been destroyed. By what, I do not know. However there was a surviving tribe member, a green hedgehog with long spikes on his head. I saved him by placing mechanical bones where shattered bones were, and giving him a robotic lung. Unfortunately it would take more reconstruction for him to wake from his coma. I put special magnetic fields generators in his wrists, I also constructed a half robotic half organic brain and heart. It was my first Cyborg._

_End file._

Ace's face was one of twisted denial. _Robotnic … saved me? That's … He suppose to be the bad guy or something right? Did he just save me to use me? Or what? _Ace calmed down. _… if Robotnic was watching the clan, then he should have the data recorded somewhere. That means I'm gonna have to break in. I should have went with them. …_

Ace waited a few seconds. "Well, where is it?" he asked aloud.

_Five miles south west of current location._

"Thanks." He said to himself. He broke into a strait run, he hoped that Sonic and Tails had caused a commotion, enough of one to get into the building at least. Then Ace would draw Robotnic's attention, hopefully he will not attack. Then, all he'll have to do is ask. And this is still assuming he can get into the compound. Sonic and Tails could have tried to use a stealth attack. Ace showing up would either ruin their operation, or distract Robotnic and make their lives a lot easier. He somehow knew the layout of the building; the least protected point would be the south entrance. So he should go through the west entrance. If their was commotion and hellfire within the compound he might have to fight. But not against Robotnic if he ever wanted those tapes.

Hopefully Sonic was using a less predictable move. Ace sped ahead. He reached a tall hill and through the trees he could see the compound. Ace looked down at the communicator and sighed. Hopefully, his brain could walk him through the operation of calling Tails.

"All right Sonic, after this point, it would be dangerous to be sending transmissions, Robotnic may be listening, it's most likely the inside has a jamming device." Tails talked into the small microphone on the homemade communicators.

Sonic's voice was interrupted by static at random intervals. Indeed the inside had a jamming device. "It's okay. You held my hand through the yard, I can handle the cameras. You *_skizzz_* right about this door, I *_skizzz_* -s much less security."

"Be careful Sonic, cutting transmi-" Tails was interrupted by a new signal coming in. the line had apparently already been cut. Hopefully it wasn't Eggman and it was Sonic being impatient. Tails notice it was Ace's signal. He hit the "receive" button. "Ace?"

Ace's voice was clear as a bell. "Tails, I finally did it. Anyway, there's something I have to do here."

"What do you mean? Where are you." Tails quickly brought up the map and saw Ace's signal.

Ace told him as Tails realized it for himself. "I'm at Robotnic's Headquarters, same as you. I don't know how to explain this, but I'll tell you when there's time."

"Ace, what are you trying-" Tails was interrupted again.

"I'm leaving my communicator in the trunk of this tree, so if I don't come back…"

"Ace!" but it was too late, the transmission had been cut and on the other side of the field, Tails spotted Ace exiting the forest. "What is he doing." He gritted his teeth. The words echoed through his head. _"I'll tell you when there's time." "If I don't come back…"_ Tails didn't want to see Ace gone before he even knew him. Tails was hiding far off into the trees, far enough away on the south side that Eggman's sensors couldn't detect the mechanics of the Blue Tornado.

_ This isn't good. I had a suspicion that this would go horribly wrong._ Is all that went through Tails's head, and the last for now, all he remembered from that day was a sudden and intense pain that shot through his entire body.

Ace walked through the front gates and was met by a guard officer droid that didn't seem to pay him much mind. He kept walking until he reached the doors to the compound. It was three stories high and it surrounded a complicated array of mechanical stuff. Yes, stuff would just about cover it. Random omega issue robots that stood ten feet tall to super jets and underneath the soil, the Egg Carrier 3 sat. Ace knew that this information barely scratched the surface of what secrets this place held.

There was a booth and two security droids standing guard and when Ace approached them, they stood still. Seconds after arriving, a TV screen shot from the ceiling, hanging by an extendable pole. The screen then flashed and a bald man with goggles and a large orange mustache appear on the TV. Robotnic.

"Alpha E X! Where have you been, and why have you not reported in for a week!" Spat the scientist. "And I find out from Mecha Sonic here that you have only met the meddlesome hedgehog TODAY! And what was with that display earlier! You made a complete mockery of me! You have some explaining to do!" The doors opened and the TV screen started hovering. The pole attached to the screen detached and went back into the ceiling.

A medic robot rushed up to him and swooping him up interrupted Ace's stroll. Its arms extended into a stretcher and Ace was placed on it. "What are you!" Ace couldn't finish, the robot was traveling down the hallway so fast that it broke his concentration. _This thing must be almost as fast as Sonic and me._ He thought.

It slammed Ace onto a surgeon's table and it began to prepare for what appeared to be a surgery. "Hey! What are you doing with those tools!" The robot held up a large spinning saw. Straps came out of the table immediately and pinned Ace to the table.

A TV slid from the ceiling and hovered in between Ace and the crazed Surgeon. "Medic! What is the meaning of this!" Robotnic yelled.

The droid answered in a female monotone voice. "This robot has been badly damaged and is in need of immediate and extreme treatment."

"Isn't that a little too extreme!" Ace yelled.

"Excuse me? Were you programmed to be a medic?" It answered.

"Stop medic, all repair on this model are to be done by me and me alone. Besides, he doesn't look that bad."

"Yea, can you undo these straps now?" Ace yelped.

The bot was silent for a moment and the straps undid themselves. "You know best Doctor."

"Of course I do." Then the TV then slid into he ceiling and a door on the far side of the medic room opened.

Robotnic stepped through the door, a small hovering TV screen was hovering behind him. It changed into an actual robot and spoke. "Shall I leave you Master?"

"Yes, you to medic." The two robots exited the room as they were told. "So Alpha E X, have anything you wish to confess to. Like the infiltration?"

"I had no part in it." Ace sat up and crossed his arms, trying to keep his heart from pounding and gritting his teeth. "You ran all the way down here to see me?" Ace asked.

"Are you foolish? I would have eventually came yes, but I got here so fast because I was down the hall at this particular time."

_The research lab, eh?_ Ace thought. "So is there really something wrong with me?"

"You tell me. Anything weird going on?" Robotnic placed a hand on the table and leaned in really close to his face. His nickname Eggman was right on the money.

"Well … My memory. I can't seem to remember anything before today."

Robotnic forced Ace down on the table. The straps activated themselves. "That is a problem. That explains why you were not in contact for a week."

Ace struggled fiercely. "Can you give me a hint as to what you just discovered?"

"Oh, yes. You must have been attacked or had an accident. Your body shut down for five days at least. That must have caused damage to your central cortex, making the memory chip in your brain malfunction."

_Seems plausible. _"But why would I shut down?"

"Because when you're fatally wounded, your body shuts down for an undetermined amount of time, so your body could regenerate."

"Regenerate?"

"Your body is made out of metal that was enchanted with a Chaos Emerald. It will stretch your remaining metal and fix any immediate damage. However, it is not an all mighty cure. If you stretch your metal too far it shall be so thin that UV rays will affect your organs directly and you will die."

He gulped. "All right, but can you restore my memories?"

"…What memories?"

Ace's face shot up, he was still constraint, but why? Was he about to operate or something. "What do you mean?"

"Alpha E X, when you woke from your first coma, you had lost all memory of your former life. You had absolutely no memories, you could barely talk, all you could say was the normal amnesia drivel, "Who am I? Where am I?" You wouldn't say anything else. You were like a baby. This was before I installed the mecha-organic brain. So I had nothing to do with your memory loss. And since you didn't remember anything from before I installed the brain, there was no way I could get your memories back. But now it's time to operate."

Robotnic shoved a mask over Ace's face, it automatically filled with gas and Ace was out cold.

Tails woke up in a holding cell that overlooked a control room. No doubt that he was in the compound. He had gotten himself captured. He tried to move but every time he did his entire body screamed out in pain. "Oww… What happened?" He then smelt burnt fur. And his cheeks lit up red. "They hit my tails… asses."

"RRRRAAAAGGHHH!" Knuckles screeched. _How could I allow myself to be so stupid. That was something Sonic would do!_ He slammed his fist into the titanium walls and reinforced bars, hoping that there was a weak point. There's always a glowing red weak spot. _Damnit!_ He hadn't stopped trying to break the prison since he was thrown in.

-Aboard the Eggship-

- Hours Earlier -

Knuckles stood amongst hundreds of robots waiting for an imminent attack. Knuckles went to work, gliding behind the crowd and rushing every single one of them. However, each time he would punch one, the outside armor would only dent, not break.

"What's the deal!" He chucked two out of the hole he had made. However, the others caught him with a steel whip embedded with electric generators, a sort of taser.

Mecha Sonic walked over to the barely conscious Knuckles and chopped him in the back of the neck to knock him out.

"Get him into the cell. He'll pay for the destruction later." His voice was scratchy and dark, evil even.

_SON!_ He blasted the left wall with his most powerful punch yet. _OF!_ He delivered a spinning kick, that would have surely taken the head of those reinforced robots clean off, to an iron bar. _A!_ He spun and squatted into a stance, a strange aura enveloped his fists. _BITCH!_ He struck the bar with both hands and the aura traveled the length of the pole and disappeared. He had though he heard the bar pop at the top, but it was just the door opening at the end of the hall.

The figure came into Knuckles view, "Mecha Sonic!" He spat.

A shiny, pointy, more robotic form of the blue hero stood just outside of Knuckles's reach. "Knuckles, you can make this easy, all we need from you is the location of Angel Island. We'll take the Master Emerald and you can go plot against us elsewhere." Knuckles had sent a message through telepathy to the Master Emerald as soon as he woke up in the cell. It told the Master Emerald to hide Angel Island high above the clouds.

"No chance! You'll never get the Master Emerald out of me!"

"You can be very unmanageable. Are you ready?"

"Ready?"

"The torture begins in half an hour. You will either wish you were dead, or die. It does not matter which. But, you will tell us where Angel Island is." Knuckles spat at him. It missed. "I don't expect you to give in so early. I expect you to make it interesting, at least for a little while." He left the hall.

The scenery was pure white. And not seeable light fixture shown light into the room. It just seemed to glow with a natural light.

No camera spotted the blue blur. Sonic advanced much more slowly that he would have otherwise. Time was not a factor right now. To the extent of his knowledge anyhow. He stayed just out of the cameras line of vision. He had done this once before in a relatively less secure base. There he could have gone faster than this at least. He slid across the floor, hiding behind random decoration to avoid detection from the droids.

Sonic did not know however, that he was being watched. Every step of the way. Not by Eggman. But by someone else who had snuck into Eggman's base.

"What do you see Rouge?" A voice whispered into her earpiece.

Rouge gracefully scratched her ear and pressed the button on her earpiece in one motion. "Just a curious little hedgehog who strayed to far from home."

"Don't get distracted. Remember why you're there." Hissed the other person.

"Oh can it, I remember, but with Sonic's luck you know he's gonna lead us right to it." Rouge could fly over the camera's field of sight, but following the slow hedgehog was boring, apparently, he didn't know that Rouge had put a loop on all of the cameras in this sector they still moved though, giving the illusion that they were working.

"Doesn't matter, if he finds the Chaos Emerald first, there's no way you can get out without being followed. Break off and search." He growled.

Rouge gave a whispered sigh. "You never follow my hunches, maybe you should listen every now and then." There was no response. "Shadow? Do you copy?" still no answer. "Damnit. The Jammer is back online. Now they now something's up. Better find that Emerald." She abruptly turned down the next hallway, flying as fast as she could … until she spotted Eggman in a glass walled room.

…

…

…

…

…

_Operating systems online. Forty-eight percent armor steel replaced. Capacity full. Heart rate: normal. Brainwave activity: Low. _

_Man, even my brain is making fun of me; this was a stupid idea… For all I know, he could have looked in my brain and downloaded my memory. He probably knows that I'll betray him._

"Wake up. You should be fully functional. I also refilled your ammunition, you shouldn't run out-" Robotnic was interrupted; Ace tore out of the braces.

"I have ammunition!" Ace's mouth was gaping.

"… Yes. You can fire them from your wrists. But the more you use it, the more armor you use when you run out of bullets."

"… I don't follow."

"If you run out of ammunition, then you'll start to fire your armor skin."

Ace jumped, "That's not very good for my well being ya know."

"I rebuilt you to fight down to the wire. Do whatever it takes to win. It's my vision to rule the world of Eggtopolis! You were built for that purpose."

Ace looked down, he knew that it might have been something like that, but hearing it from the person who saved your life? The person who gave you a second chance wants you to do something horrible with that chance. "I see. Well, sure. Why not?"

Robotnic looked back. "Heh heh. It's why you were created."

"There's something I want in return for my services."

"A life wasn't enough?" That hit Ace hard.

"Well, how about you do me a favor then?" Robotnic still half-turned. "You had surveillance in that Anzalia Colony. Can I see the tapes?"

Robotnic turned; Ace did not see the grin on his face. "Yes, if you can pass this test. Follow me."

_Great, a test. I'm probably gonna fail._

Robotnic and Ace were silent on their way through. They walked for ten minutes; however, they stopped at a cross. It overlooked an outside construction site. Many things were being destroyed out this particular window. "Why did we stop?"

"Another one of my creations should be passing by soon. I must speak with him."

As he said, a large group of chrome robots, Robotnic originals, passed in front of them. A tall blue hedgehog stopped. _Hey, that's no hedgehog. It looks like…_

"Mecha Sonic! So happy to see you. How was your recent mission?" Robotnic's praise was very high, using his hand to express himself. Ace wondered for a moment if the bot could only understand Robotnic's weird gestures. But it eventually spoke.

"The operation was a success. We're going to drain the subject of his knowledge of the Master Emerald's location." Mecha Sonic's eyes seem to stare at Ace, as if he wasn't expecting him to be there. However, it was more than that. Mecha Sonic seemed to glare. However, with Mecha Sonic's Face, you couldn't really tell if he was sad or angry all the time.

_The Master Emerald— _Ace's brain chimed.

_I don't need a lesson right now... _Ace's face turned from a reflecting glare to an aggravated look.

_A large gemstone with the power to control the Chaos Emeralds-_

_Very fascinating, please shut up._

_And it is what keeps Angel Island aloft in the air._

_UGH!_

"Farewell master." Mecha Sonic went along.

"Good-bye Mecha. Hmm…? What's wrong with you?"

_It can be shattered and then restored by the heir to the protectors of the stone._

"It's nothing. Let's go take the test."

_Moreover, the heir can form a telepathic connection with the stone, virtually controlling where the island floats._

Ace's mind went on and on… Ace tried to keep his head on that test. What could it be? _Is it really just some test? Or is it suppose to be misleading like that? Maybe the test is a riddle, like a head game. I'm good at those. Who am I kidding? He wants me to do something evil doesn't he?_

They walked through a glass tube that seemed to be suspended in the air. It hung above the construction sight and was linked to some central tower. The door opened and Robotnic smiled, however Ace grimaced.

They had finally reached their destination, the control room. And everyone was here just in time for the show. …

Sonic was still annoyed; the camera had spotted him, it was a careless mistake. … … … "Um…" Sonic jumped up onto the wall, hung from the camera's support brace and waved his hand in front of the camera. "Are these things even on!" The complaint echoed through the halls. … … … "Oops." Sonic was gone in a flash; he raced through the corridors to find a large squadron of silver robots waiting for him.

"Eep!" He dance around, using his super speed and G-Force to stick to the walls and fly through the crowd. He saw something shine in the hands of one of the robots and took it and head toward the way he had came. He looked at the plastic card he snatched. It had a small map and a blinking dot. It looked like a map of some kind. In addition, a black strip ran down the length of the other side. "A key Card? I bet the blinking light is where I am and whatever this unlocks is at the other. Heh. I'm curious."

Right, left, right, left, left, right, straight, straight, left. It took him twenty-two seconds to find the door. He pushed a button and the door slid open just in time for a loud "HUURRRAAAHHHH!" and a powerful shake.

"Knuckles…." Sonic zoomed over to the cage. "Ha. They got you good, huh Knuckles." He laughed.

"SONIC! Get me out of here!" Knuckles screamed.

"All right! All right. Jeez." Sonic quickly found the card key slot on the opposite side of the room, and the bars slid down. Knuckles was free and he flew out of the cage and punched a hole through a wall that wasn't reinforced, such as the recent cage walls and bars.

"Let's go! We have to get to the control room." Knuckles was grinning now. He could cause some excitement. They easily made their way through the junkyard, dodging random sheets of metal that flew through the air as what they were originally connected to was destroyed.. They were at the central tower now. The compound was made to defend against intruders; there is a circular wall on the outside, along with security turrets and many guards. Then there is the circular building that surrounds the inside. Inside that was the scrap and junkyards. It was full of man of Eggman's creations that had either been destroyed or being repaired. Then the central control tower was in the very heart of the compound. It was two stories high and in a weird shape. A small support tower was just large enough for Eggman. Then the top floor was in the shape of a dome. A tube extended from it that connected to the building.

Knuckles and Sonic entered the elevator and went up. They reached the control room and stepped in. But instead of being greeted to Eggman's usual insults and curses, Sonic instead was met by a kick to the chest. When Sonic recovered, he saw that Shadow was standing in the control room.

"Oh, it's just you." He turned around and continued typing on the computer behind Eggman's desk.

"A "sorry" would have been appreciated." Sonic said as he ran over to the computer. "What are you doing?"

"Get out of my face hedgehog." Sonic took a step back. "The Jammer came back online when Rouge spotted you. So I came to deactivate it again so I can get in touch with her."

Sonic was silent for a moment. "Of course."

"Shut it. By the way, your roasted fox is up there." Shadow pointed with one finger while the other hand was still typing furiously. Sonic followed the finger to a blue holding cell up in the corner of the ceiling.

"Tails!" Sonic jumped up and smashed the glass and Tails fell to the ground with a thud.

"Ugh…" Tails whimpered.

"Are you okay Tails? I'm sorry. Why didn't you fly before you hit the ground?"

Knuckles walked over to Tails and yanked out a dart that was stuck between Tails's tails. "Poison Dart, and a scorch mark. You were probably tasered then the dart was inserted so you couldn't escape on your own."

"Sounds about right." Knuckles helped Tails to his feet. "Thanks."

"No problem." Knuckles looked at Shadow who was trying to communicate with Rouge, but she didn't respond.

"Damn. Where is that woman?" Shadow threw the communicator across the room, breaking it. On the other side of the room, a door opened, and Mecha Sonic entered.

"Knuckles, Sonic, even Shadow the Hedgehog. What a bounty." Mecha Sonic blocked a spin kick from shadow and threw him across the room in one motion. "Even that meddlesome droid is here. Everyone that is in my way in one neat line-up."

Then a door on the opposite side of the room opened. Revealing Ace walking with Dr. Eggman. "Just as I planned. Heh."

"Sonic? Knuckles?" Ace jumped back. _Tails and Shadow too…_

"Don't shy away Alpha E X, destroy them. Prove your loyalty to me, and that shall be your test!" Eggman shoved his finger out at the group.

"Ace?" Sonic stepped back, his face choked Ace up.

"It's not—Robotnic-" Ace stammered, not sure what to say.

"Give it a rest. You've been caught red-handed." Shadow spat.

"A-Ace…" Tails stuttered.

"Enough." Mecha Sonic yelled. "Master, may we stop wasting time on that thing and let me destroy them all!"

"Mecha … I have faith in Alpha. I suggest you gave him a chance." Eggman praised.

"There is too much living flesh! Look at his hesitation, he will betray you!"

_I need those tapes!_ "Sonic…" _What should I do? Wait; did I really just say that? I am not going to betray everyone. However, if I don't, none of us might get out of here alive. I need those tapes, but who I was is not as important as who I am now._

"You should have listened to Mecha Sonic." Ace turned. Mecha Sonic turned his arm into a gun, but Eggman stopped him.

"Think about what you're doing. Before, I was doing a good deed. I felt bad because your entire life had been ruined by who knows what. Then I gave you a purpose. Remember how lifeless you were?" Eggman stared at Ace through his goggles.

_He did do something! He uploaded a camera's memory into my brain! I can see myself through a camera in the corner of some room. _

Ace did see himself. Sitting on a bed, eyes half opened and cold food lying next to him. He was lifeless, almost as if he was dead. The door opened and Mecha Sonic walked in. "Lifeless." Mecha Sonic walked over and picked up the plate. "No apatite. It almost seems like his desire has been robbed." Mecha Sonic turned around. "What will you do with him?"

"Who…" Ace spoke, raising his head a little

"Mecha spun around; Robotnic seemed to be there too; however, he wasn't on screen.

"Who am I?" Ace's head sunk back down and his eyes closed.

"What was that?" Ace put his hands on his ears and fell down to his knees. "You implanted that in me!"

"Especially for this moment. Would you betray the man who gave you soul, or would you be grateful and do as I wish?"

"Ace!" Sonic had said at after shrunk to the ground, but it was almost as if Sonic's voice didn't register as his to Ace. After he finally realized Sonic said something, he turned and saw Mecha Sonic holding him by the throat. Ace acted automatically. He ran full blast toward Mecha Sonic. He jumped in the air and spun, kicking Mecha Sonic in his side as hard as he could. Sonic fell and landed on his feet and Ace turned toward Mecha, battle ready.

"Impudent… Your actions are not the wishes of my master." Mecha screeched. "I will destroy you, once and for all." Mecha paused, waiting for Robotnic to give the word.

"Finish-" However before Eggman could say anything, Rouge appeared with a Chaos Emerald in her hand.

"Shadow!" She threw the Chaos Emerald toward him and as soon as he caught it, he vanished. Reappearing behind Mecha and kicking him hard in the side of the head. Sending him flying.

"Let's go!" He yelled, probably to Rouge, but everyone decided it was time to go. Shadow kicked the door so hard, it bent so that it couldn't open or close. Sonic and Ace rushed over to Tails. Sonic picked him up and sped toward the door, followed by Ace and Knuckles.

The four left, Knuckles running as fast as he could, with Sonic and Ace matching his pace. "Should I grab Knuckles so we can get out of here quickly?"

"It might be a good idea. We probably have Mecha on our tail."

Ace grabbed Knuckles by the wrist and the two sped toward the south exit.

Once there, they saw an army of robots gathered around the exit. A line of robots blocked both sides. Ace acted quickly. "Get behind me!" Ace held out his hand and clenched it into a fist, like he was holding something. Then his wrist extended to reveal gun barrels. They fired off bullets that went through the robots.

"Whoa…" Knuckles had said before the clear path formed. Sonic and Ace ran off into the woods and put both Tails and Knuckles down.

The three were kneeling in front of Tails, seeming to have drifted to unconsciousness. Ace shook him a little and he opened his eyes. "Hey, Tails. You okay?" He asked.

"Yea, They just stung me with an electric shock. I'm okay know."

"Can you fly us out of here?" Knuckles asked.

"Sure…"

"Me and Sonic can run back, don't worry." Ace glanced at Sonic, his face didn't show any disagreement.

"Alright. C'mon Knuckles. You can ride in the backseat." Tails jumped up and Knuckles ran with him to the Blue Tornado, seemingly untouched.

In a few seconds, they could see the robot army closing in on them. Tails had started the plane, however it looked different from before, although he wasn't surprised or confused, he knew that it was naturally for the bi-plane to turn into the jet he saw.

In no time, the plane lifted off. Strange helicopter blades came out of a hole that didn't seem to look like it should be there, brought it up, then the jet powered forward in a sonic boom.

"Well, let's move." Ace said; then turned and ran keeping up with Sonic.

Chapter 2:

Infiltration

Well, I wrote two chapters. Hmm. I had the First Chapter a really long time ago, or at least it feels like it. Around new years. I need to put more time into Legend of Zelda: Demon Chronicles, seeing that keeping it on a flash drive and then loosing that flash drive is an obstacle best avoided than try to overcome it seems. Anyway, this Chapter's a little choppy, so keep the insults coming in your reviews. Believe it or not, your negativities keep me going.

January 25, 2011

Rien_Pierce


	3. Chapter 3: Guilt

Disclaimer. I don't have the money to Own Sonic the Hedgehog. If I did, I wouldn't writing about it. I would just be making a game…

With this, enjoy my Horribly Writing Skills.

ACE THE HEDGEHOG

It seemed hours before the two returned to Tails's house, the blue building stood out against the night sky as they ran toward it. To Ace, everything seemed to be happening in slow motion; him and Sonic had caught up with the plane and were running with it. The plane lost altitude twice but it had stayed in the air long enough to get to the house.

As the plane landed, Knuckles jumped up to help Tails out of the seat. Ace and Sonic were there seconds later, jumping up on the side of the plane to see if Tails was unconscious again. Barely had he stood and the three helped him into the house. Sonic sat him in bed as Knuckles helped himself to a glass of water from the sink. Ace was in the stairwell, concerned for the fox's condition. Knuckles walked back into the living room as Sonic descended. Sonic gave him a questioning glance as he saw the cup in his hand and Knuckles replied, "Prison food sucks."

Ace sighed, "Is he gonna be okay?" concern laced his voice with more weight than he thought he had felt.

Sonic seemed to sense his concern and looked to Knuckles. "Well," Knuckles said, "the poison dart is probably just some paralysis junk Eggman threw together, it's probably not that potent." Sonic's face didn't change. Knuckles sighed. "I'll go see if my power can heal him." He ascended the stairs, Sonic stepped to the side to let him through. Just before he passed Ace, however he thrust the glass toward him and he took it hastily.

He disappeared behind the door and Ace's brain was saying something, but he only caught pieces of it, his chest felt empty, and he was resisting the urge to run back to Eggman's fortress and … _And what?_ He thought. _Why do I __**want **__to go back? There is absolutely no chance Robotnic's ever going to let me see those tapes now, he probably deleted them just to spite me._ A scowl grew on his face, increasing in ferocity as he continued to think about Robotnic. _And that Mecha Sonic or whatever he's called… Eggman's 'other' creation. What did he mean, that we're made for the same purpose? Or maybe he meant something more like we were created to match each other. After all, I don't even know what kind of a punch I can throw._

"You zoned out again." Sonic said. His tone was less joyful Ace thought, and why shouldn't it be. Eggman just poisoned and shocked his best friend into unconsciousness; he had every right to be angry. "Tails was hurt today, and I let it happen…" Ace felt something; he couldn't tell what it was, but it made him angry. As if he was staring down someone he hated.

Ace was silent, trying to calm himself down and think of something to say to Sonic. "It's not your fault." Was all he could manage, a pathetic attempt.

"I wonder…" He never finished, the feeling Ace had was gone. Sonic seemed to have calmed down. Before he could say anything else, Knuckles came from the room, a light softly glowing from inside the room, his face was pale.

"Sonic, check this out." Knuckles said in awe. Sonic flashed into the room and Ace followed, thought the light didn't exactly strike him as odd. When he saw Tails his jaw dropped however.

He was floating above the bed, maybe an inch or so and he was glowing with a bright green light. Ace swore he saw a figure outside the window; but when he noticed it, it vanished and Tails fell to the bed, sound asleep. Ace stood still for a moment as Knuckles and Sonic shook Tails awake, however Ace couldn't bring himself to move… The figure outside the window, Tails and the green light, and his colony, The Anzalians. He looked up, then he collapsed. Within seconds Knuckles was over him, but that's the last thing he remembered before he fell through the floor in complete darkness.

* * * * He woke up to a light green hedgehog standing over him. A rhombus inscribed on their forehead, telling him it was a girl. She looked at him with her green eyes full of devious curiosity. She reached forward with a gloved hand and flicked his nose. Ace reacted instantly. "Lorelei!" He yelled as he recoiled to the edge of the cot. "What was that for!"

She spoke back with a high voice, like she had yet to reach maturity. "It's midday! You should be doing your duties." She said, pointing a finger in his face. "You're iconic, remember! Your suppose to set an example, sleeping in isn't exactly setting a good one." Her eyes flared angrily, scowling at him.

"Excuse me? I was up late on patrols last night! It's not my fault, the Chief told me to stay out all night. I think he's expecting … something." He rushed the last part out, like he had run out of breath. He looked around. He laid on a simple cot in the corner of the room with nothing but a thin sheet and small pillow. There was nothing but a window and a small table in this room. The door, next to the window, was open slightly. It was a rather small room too, wide enough for him to stretch in but small enough to feel cramp.

She closed her eyes, seeming to calm as her eyes flashed open. "Mom would be very angry. C'mon you have to tend to your chores." Her eyes filled with sweetness as she spoke of her mother.

He smiled back at her. "I don't think 'Chores' really describes my work."

She scowled again, obviously annoyed. "Get up you lazy sack!" She then grabbed the small pillow and flung it at him. He put his hands up to block the pillow and then threw it back at her.

He jumped up then, before she could retaliate. "I'm up! I'm up!" he said hastily and threw his arms up in the air. He actually took her in this time, she was wearing a brown leather dress, red and blue markings on it symbolized some position she had but Ace had fallen asleep during that lecture. Her feet, small and delicate, were in simple sandals made from straw and wood.

He on the other hand wore just a plain open vest and a drawstring with three jewels on it, shards of ancient crystal that were ancient and powerful to the Anzalians. He was the "Chosen One" of the clan and these jewels represented that. His forehead branded with a diamond, and his eyes a sparkling green, he was the spitting image of Lorelei, only a darker green. He walked up to Lorelei and gave her a quick hug.

"Thanks Lorelei, but the Chief's still gonna chew me out for waking up so late, I'm surprised that he didn't come down here and stab me until I woke up." Ace smiled at her, but she returned with a creepy grin.

"He he, just like my brother to never actually look outside." She said. It caught him off guard then he realized what she meant and he looked to the window. Barely dawn. "Cyrus, you fall for the stupidest tricks!" she then ran out of the room.

Ace scowled, "Get back here you little twit!"

Ace woke up, this time for real. He recognized the troubled faces of Knuckles and Sonic as his eyes adjusted to the faint light from the moon that shown in from the living room window. He wondered, for only a moment, if this was the dream and what he had just saw was the real world. He dismissed it. He knew what that was, it was a memory, why it had shown itself know, he had no idea. And what he worried more about is how It was triggered, he saw Tails floating above the bed and remembering the figure in the window, but that and the memory had nothing to do with one another.

Sonic spoke first, though Ace didn't react. "Hey, you awake?"

Knuckles then spoke. "My abilities didn't affect him either, maybe he's in a coma or something. I've heard of people opening their eyes and talking randomly in comas before."

Ace spoke now, "No you haven't, that never happens."

"So he lives after all!" Knuckles stood now. "Everything's back to normal, I'm going back to my island. I cannot leave the Emerald alone for to long."

"My name…" He started to say, but he could not find the words.

"What did you say?" Sonic asked.

"What is my … Name?" Sonic looked shocked, Ace felt even more shocked, it's not like he could have lost his memory, _again_. He hadn't made any new ones.

"You're talking nonsense, your name's Ace." Sonic finally said. He looked up, Ace hadn't moved so he thought Knuckles was gone, but apparently he hadn't left. "You sure he's okay? He sweating and he doesn't sound to good…" Ace then felt it, he was sweating, but he was shivering too. He didn't know what was going on. Did he have a fever? His head pulsed with slight pain and a dull ring played about his ears. Then his brain said something.

_Warning! Memory chip received new data! Configuring… … …_

"He does look bad, but I've done everything I can. If I use any more of my power I'm gonna pass out." Knuckles then opened the door, or so Ace thought, he hadn't moved.

Then the door shut, and Sonic looked back to Ace. "You feel okay?" he asked.

"I don't know, I'm still…" He cut off, was he about to say "Configuring?" He imagined what Sonic's reaction would be; probably dismissed as some crazy talk due to the fever.

_Configuring … … …_ His brain chimed. _Configuring… … … Configuration complete._ At this his head stopped throbbing and the ringing stopped. He stopped shivering as well. His sweating decreased, but he still felt it trickle through his spikes.

"I feel … a little better." He said weekly.

"What happened? Why did you just collapse?" Sonic asked, concern and impatience made his tone unreadable. Ace sat upright with a rush of blood to his head. He was sitting in the living room on the couch of Tails's house.

"Tails… Is he okay?" He asked.

Sonic hesitated. "He's fine now, sleeping like a baby."

Ace sighed. "I don't geuss you trust me all that much after you saw me with … Eggman… Shadow had said he caught me red handed but…"

"You've met Shadow?" Sonic asked.

Ace shook his head. "I didn't come here to race you or anything like that." He looked at Sonic, obviously confused. "I woke up in the forest this morning, not knowing what happened. I lost my memory and…" He paused, not sure how to say it. Sonic said nothing either for a long time. "Look, all I know is that there was this colony of hedgehogs called the Anzalians, and that I'm the last surviving member, or so it seems. Eggman was watching us through surveillance cameras he'd secretly placed around the colony.

"After his cameras malfunctioned or something like that, he came and found me lying half dead with no one else around and every building destroyed. He took me back to his base and … saved my life."  
"That doesn't sound like Eggman." Sonic interrupted.

"After my experience with the guy, I don't see why he did either. Anyway, he rebuilt my lung, heart, and bones at first, and when I came out of my coma, my memory were gone. That's what he showed me when I … had that meltdown at the compound. I was so … lifeless, as good as dead."

"So, you're not lifeless now, what happened?"

"He built a robotic brain and implanted that in me. In between that and when I woke up this morning, I have no idea what happened, but I wound up in some clearing in the forest like I had fallen from the sky."

Sonic sat still for a while, his elbows on his knees and his chin rested on his hands. "So, Eggman saved your life? Then you went back to try and find out about your past? How do you know that you're the last of the Anzalians? Did he show you his surveillance tapes?"

"No, my head, it's like a computer. It has a wide variety of random stuff in there and I somehow know about stuff. Sometimes my brain even gives me lectures in the middle of conversations."

Sonic's expression didn't change. "Is it giving you a lecture now?"

Ace paused. "…uh, no."

Sonic didn't seem to care much about the question. "So why did you pass out?"

"I don't know, seeing Tails like that must have triggered something in my brain, when I was passed out I remembered something from my life in Anzalia. It was…" Ace's eyes sprung open wide and tears threatened to pour from them. _I had a sister, a baby sister and …_ A memory flashed and he saw her spreading her arms wide, like she was protecting him from something. There was a light, a bright one and then, he lost it. He was back in Tails's living room, sitting there looking stupid. _I had a sister, and if I'm the last Anzalian…_

_ She died._

He gritted his teeth together. Sonic reached out to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

_My sister, my little sister… _He somehow knew without actually knowing that this image, his sister standing before the light, was something that was supposed to haunt him forever. He felt a powerful loneliness then. He was the last Anzalian, the last of his family.

"Ace, is something wrong? What did you remember?" Sonic shook him once; it seemed to rattle words out of him.

"I remembered my little sister waking me up…"

"I'm … sorry." Sonic frowned, feeling his sadness. Ace wasn't the only one who could put two and two together. "Maybe there's some chance that whatever happened, she escaped." He shook his head. "Do you know where the colony is? Maybe we could check it out, see if you remember anything." He hesitated; maybe he was looking for the right words. "It might make you feel better if you knew what happened."

Ace grunted then put his head in his hands, palms digging into either side of his tattoo. _Do I want to check it out? Do I want to remember? _The image flashed again, this time he remembered her voice, she was screaming. He gulped, trying to keep the tears down. "I-I know where it is." He stammered. "I just, don't know if I want to remember."

Sonic took his hand away and gave a faint smile. "It's all right, you don't have to if you don't want too. It's pretty late, maybe you should get some sleep." He got up and disappeared. Then he saw the blur a split second afterwards with a folded blanket and pillow. "I'm sure Tails won't mind if you slept on the couch." He said gesturing toward where Ace was sitting. He looked to both sides, he had almost forgot that this was a couch, or he was even sitting in a room, it felt more like a shrink's office now.

Ace did not respond, he was tired after all. The unconsciousness, however long it was, didn't give Ace any rest, it had been as if he actually did all those things in the memory without actually doing them. He grabbed the blanket and pillow and unfolded them slowly, acting as if the objects were fragile enough to fall to the floor and shatter. He wrapped the blanket around him, suddenly feeling cold, and put his head back on the pillow. He uttered a word of thanks, however he wasn't sure what he said. He drifted into sleep much faster than he thought he wanted to.

The red echidna struggled to glide from tree to tree this time, the healing he done really took a lot out of him. He had to get to the mountain. There was no other goal in mind, except to fly Angel Island to a new hiding spot. He continued, even as tired as he was until he reached the tall mountain. It took him longer this time to climb up the mountain than usual, sweat poured down his face and spikes and he tasted the salt in his mouth as he continued to perspire.

He then finally reached the top and glided to the Island, its small mountains and meadows welcoming him. He landed on the stone walkway that led to the altar, it loomed over him like an oppressive master, however the Master Emerald was not malevolent, it was far less so. Knuckles the Echidna was the last of the Echidnas, the last line of protectors of the Master Emerald. No one is quite sure why the Island containing the Master Emerald floats, it is unclear when it had even started to float above Mobius. However, it did now and that's all the Knuckles cared about. Protecting the Emerald was his duty, he didn't really care as to why all this happened, he didn't question it either.

The Master Emerald glowed quietly as Knuckles advanced toward the object. However as he got closer he could make out something, a figure. Knuckles eyes flew open and he ran toward the figure. It turned to face him and it seemed shock. Taking a step back in surprise and growing into a circle, Knuckles thought it was transforming for battle; but a second later it had vanished completely. Knuckles ran straight to the Master Emerald, feeling the edges and corners as if he was making sure the Emerald was still there. He then looked to his left, he had found a Chaos Emerald lately, and it had been resting next to the Master Emerald, but now it was gone. "Damnit." Knuckles looked back to the Emerald. "At least you're safe…"

The Emerald then spoke in his mind, something he welcomed now. _It was what my warnings were about, it took your Chaos Emerald and fled as it saw you. It however had no interest to smash me or take me, he only seemed to study me._

"That doesn't sound too good either. What was it?"

_I know, but at the same time, I do not. I am not supposed to know, so I cannot tell you because the information is out of my reach._

Knuckles took a step back, not really understanding "You mean you can't remember?" The Emerald was silent for a long moment.

_It is the simplest way to explain it; however, the cause for this block is much more complicated than that._

"As long as you're safe. I won't leave for a while now, I can't have that thing coming back." Knuckles sat down at the Emeralds holding and scowled hard. He couldn't protect the Master Emerald, he had failed. This annoyed more than it made him depressed. He slammed down his fist on the hard stone, angry at himself.

The night passed slowly for Sonic, Ace's confession and Tails injuries had caught him a little off guard. Then he had that fit, Ace probably didn't notice it, but he was about to lose it. That feeling, so much anger and despair had sent him back down into that dark place in his mind, a place he had only been to once before, and how he was pulled from it, he was unsure. But this time he knew, Ace's presence alone seemed to have pulled him back somehow. He didn't feel like questioning it, he felt like sleeping but slumber stayed out of reached, no matter how far he pushed his thoughts from his mind.

He thought of everyone then, everyone he had left to get to where he was. Sarah, Chris, Team Chaotix, which was more a joyful decision that a tearful farewell. He thought of how Cosmo had given her life, and how he and Shadow had failed to save her, realized how he had failed ultimately. Cosmo gave her life to save the Universe, and Shadow had given his life to save them all. Even though he knew Shadow had the lives to waste, it made him feel no better that his friends had always given up more to save them all than he had.

However, he did not forget the fact that he was needed. When Perfect Chaos had ravaged through a town on Earth, he was the only thing that stood between it and the rest of the world. However, in that instant, he failed to protect the many lives of the citizens. Not everyone survived, he knew, but he tried to take comfort in the fact that no one else could have stopped this "God" as Eggman called it, and it would have destroyed the entire world if it wasn't stopped.

_But, _He thought, _If we had met Shadow before that he wouldn't of felt safe until he saw it dissipate before him. Shadow would have always suspected that Chaos might not have been defeated aboard the Egg Carrier, he wouldn't have left the Emeralds and ran after Eggman to make him pay. He would have seen the full danger that Chaos possessed and would do everything in his power to protect everyone._

"If only we would have known… no one would have had to die." He whispered, he had always wondered why people thought it was weird to talk to themselves, it helped him not to lose it. He finally laid down on the floor in the study, staring up at Cosmo's plant. "I wonder if you survived, what would you say about it." Sonic gazed at the brilliant plant in the dark room, illuminated softly by the moonlight that entered from a small window. It was a full moon tonight. _I guess I'll never know…_ He closed his eyes and saw the darkness. Then finally, he reached his prize. Sleep.

Chapter 3:

Guilt

He guys, it has been a while, but finally out of school I have the time to write. This I came up with over the course of a week, hopefully it's not bad, I think it's the best writing I've done so far. Yay. However it is very short, compared to the length of my chapters in Goddess-Bound Girl. Well see you later, and Demon Chronicles has not been forgotten.

Rien_Pierce

5/29/2011


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